Lady Lazarus

Lady Lazarus (Poem by Sylvia Plath)

‘A miracle!’

That knocks me out.  

There is a charge

For the eyeing of my scars, there is a charge  

For the hearing of my heart——

It really goes.

And there is a charge, a very large charge  

For a word or a touch  

Or a bit of blood

(Read the poem)

ARTWORK

I sewed the experience of Living and Dying together. I Knitted her inner Organs , the pieces of herself, her unborn child.. The music follows the voice , and the voice follows her pain.

MATERIALS

wire, threads, fabrics

MUSIC

Anthony Palaskas

THE PERFORMANCE, ANALYSIS

Lady Lazarus is a poem by Sylvia Plath. In this artwork the poem is narrated by a female voice while a dancer performs around a sculpture-installation and music specifically created for the poem . Lady Lazarus, who has already completed 3 suicide attempts, prepares herself for the next one.

Her body suffers being alive. She suffers even more after losing her unborn baby.

The performance reflects her relationship with her body. The sculpture is the skin of the dead Lady Lazarus, and she is forced back onto her living self after each unsuccessful suicide attempt. The experience of Living for her is like Dying.

The dancer, by escaping her body, believes she has recovered from death only to be reborn, so that she can try to suicide again. She raises and falls.

She asks the crowd to see her scars, her heart, her inside parts, her pain and suffering..

The rhythm of the narration is given by the music and becomes darker and darker...

The Performance took place in Berlin.